General Notes

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"Napoleon Bonaparte Spradley was born in the county of Montgomery, Ala.,
Dec. 7, 1849. His father was Michael D. Spradley, a prominent farmer of
South Alabama, who died in Calhoun county, Ala., in January, 1881, and
was son Warren C. Spradley and his wife, Alcey (Malone) Spradley. The
mother of Mr. Spradley was Elizabeth Boone, daughter of Samuel Boone and
his wife, Elizabeth (Bradley) Boone, of  North Carolina, who removed to
Montgomery county, Ala., in 1830. Samuel Boone was a nephew of Daniel
Boone, the pioneer hunter of historic fame. In the private schools of
Montgomery county Mr. Spradley began his education, and at the age of
sixteen he left school and acquired the trade of mechanic, the occupation
partly followed him since 1884. He has educated himself, read
extensively, and is now county superintendent of school, St. Clair
county, which office he has held since 1892. He was justice of the peace
in Calhoun county for two years, in which county he was also engaged in
farming. In St. Clair county he blends the literary duties with the
scientific by supervising the schools and carrying on the important work
of farming. Politically, he is a Populist; fraternally, a member of lodge
28, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of Cropwell, denominationally, a
Methodist. In December, 1868, he married Minerva A., daughter of Joseph
L. and Malinda Taylor Kirby, of South Carolina. They have the following
children: Joseph K., in business in St. Clair county; Panora, wife of J.
D. Scoot, of St. Clair county; Thaddeus, a blacksmith of Cropwell; Mary,
wife of U. G. Nelson, engineer of the government building at Birmingham;
Taylor D., clerk in Birmingham postoffice; Lewis N., clerk at Cropwell;
Rusia E., wife of Rufus Pate, and Flint E., mechanic in Birmingham; the
baby, twelve years of age, now in school. The great-uncle of N. B.
Spradley, whose name is a household word in every intelligent family,
gave Kentucky in large measure to the Union." (1)
(1) Hon. Joel C. DuBose, Notable Men of Alabama: Personal and
Genealogical with Portraits, Vol. II (Atlanta, GA: Southern Historical
Association, 1904), pp. 281-282.
"ST. CLAIR"S SUCCESSFUL MEN
With Comments on What Makes Them So
Wealth has been defined as the product of labor applied to lard. All
things come out of the earth and go back to it. And it might almost be
said that the history of civilization is the history agriculture, rather
than a narrative concerning rulers and wars. Though the farmer's broad
back has carried the load of a hungry world for 6,000 years strangely
enough for the greater part of this period he has given more attention to
the welfare of his city brethren than he has for himself.
In an age which has organization as its moving spirit the farmer has
tried several times to organize. The Farmer's Alliance and the Grange
were formed and paved the way for the present association which now gives
assurance of being permanent and of wonderful services to its members as
well as to those who have not yet affiliated with it.
In St. Clair county the story of the Farmers Educational and
Co-operative Union is the story of Mr. N. B. Spradley. He is today its
president just has he has always been in the forefront of its plans since
the first information leaked across the Texas border on the wings of hope
and pride. The Union leaders, knowing the rocks upon which the
predecessors had split, took good pains to avoid these dangers. Confining
its activities to the subjects included within its title, the Union is
gaining strength by leaps and bounds and has already worked a miracle in
the way of changed farming methods and conditions.
Mr. N. B. Spradley was born in Montgomery Dec. 7, 1849. He moved to
Calhoun county 13 years later. To keep the wolf from the family door he
was compelled to leave school at the age of 16 but with Mr. Spradley
leaving school did not mean the